54 unfit school buses seized during RTA drive

HYDERABAD: At least 45 per cent of school buses belonging to corporate and private schools in the twin cities are unfit for travel. This was revealed in recent checks conducted by transport officials of Rangareddy and Hyderabad districts. Other problems include plying school buses without proper documents and fitness certificates and carrying children in excess of seating capacity.The Regional Transport Authority officials seized at least 83 unfit school buses of prominent educational institutions, 54 in Hyderabad and 29 in Rangareddy. “We seized 54 unfit school buses of Sri Chaitanya Techno School, St Martin’s School, Kaktiya High School, JBIT Engineering College and others.All these institutions are operating buses without any proper documentation and fitness certificates. Some are also carrying more children in excess of seating capacity,” said D Panduranga Rao, joint transport commissioner, Hyderabad.According to transport officials, out of 1,490 school buses in the twin cities, 1,431 buses have the required fitness certificates. However, in Rangareddy, out of the 4,000 plying, at least more than 700 buses are unfit. C Ramesh, joint transport commissioner, Rangareddy told Express that most school managements do not maintain them properly.Taking a serious note of the violations, RTA officials have seized booked cases on errant school managements.The drive would be on till June-end. Ramesh said strict action would be taken against managements not complying with traffic rules and RTA regulations.He added that a fitness certificate must be applied for every year from two years of the date of vehicle purchase.Stating that school autos should carry only up six children, he said school managements should guide parents in this regard.